Question: What World Cup winner also sported the most epic combover in history? Answer: Sir Bobby Charlton.

Attilio Lombardo remains one of the few players ever to win Serie A with 3 different clubs... but he's definitely the only one nicknamed "Popeye".

Gianluca Vialli is a debatable inclusion, but the fact that he went from a semi-fro one season to completely shorn the next indicates baldness was afoot.

Franck Leboeuf is (not kidding) a World Cup winner, a Euro champion, a knight, and acclaimed actor. He's also the owner of a gloriously shiny head.

You can practically see Fernando Torres' intimidation reflected in Thomas Gravesen's dome.

The force with which Jan Koller headed the ball (ask the USA in the 2002 World Cup) no doubt played a part in his eventual baldness.

It's a little known fact that Roy Keane actually threatened the hair off of Patrick Vieira's head.

Carsten Jancker remains (by some distance) the most intimidating bald man in sports history.

What can be said about Jordan Letchkov that hasn't already been said by Wikipedia: he is generally regarded as one of the best players to come out of Bulgaria and he was easily recognizable for his baldness.

The leading scorer at the 1974 World Cup, Grzegorz Lato remains the only Polish player ever to win the Golden Boot at a World Cup. He's a legend both in Poland and in the balding community.

The other candidate for Greatest Bald Player of All Time: Alfredo di Stefano (this photo doesn't do justice to his bald patch in the back).

Much like Vialli, Esteban Cambiasso went from partially haired to completely shorn in less than 4 months.

As demonstrated so clearly by this photo, Michael Bradley does not have time for jokes about baldness.

Freddy Ljungberg is one of the few players in the world that could have accurately impersonated the lead singer of Prodigy AND Bruce Willis in less than 10 years.

Pepe Reina arrived at Liverpool with a decent head of hair. He departed without one. Somewhere in there is a metaphor for the prolonged instability at Anfield.

Gervinho can't accurately be classified as bald, but the fact that he switched from shoe string to full headband demonstrates that there's something fishy going on under those braids.

Honorable Mention: Pierluigi Collina remains one of the greatest officials in soccer history AND the head you immediately think of when you hear the words "bald" and "soccer".

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Start Gallery

Arjen Robben's ability to successfully pull off the same move over and over again is fueled at least somewhat by his phenomenal baldness.

Zinedine Zidane: One of two men in this group vying for the title of Greatest Bald Soccer Player.

Jaap Stam's bald fury knows no limits.

Before he had tattoo sleeves and one of the fiercest beards of all time, Tim Howard looked like this.

Question: What World Cup winner also sported the most epic combover in history? Answer: Sir Bobby Charlton.

Attilio Lombardo remains one of the few players ever to win Serie A with 3 different clubs... but he's definitely the only one nicknamed "Popeye".

Gianluca Vialli is a debatable inclusion, but the fact that he went from a semi-fro one season to completely shorn the next indicates baldness was afoot.

Franck Leboeuf is (not kidding) a World Cup winner, a Euro champion, a knight, and acclaimed actor. He's also the owner of a gloriously shiny head.

You can practically see Fernando Torres' intimidation reflected in Thomas Gravesen's dome.

The force with which Jan Koller headed the ball (ask the USA in the 2002 World Cup) no doubt played a part in his eventual baldness.

It's a little known fact that Roy Keane actually threatened the hair off of Patrick Vieira's head.

Carsten Jancker remains (by some distance) the most intimidating bald man in sports history.

What can be said about Jordan Letchkov that hasn't already been said by Wikipedia: he is generally regarded as one of the best players to come out of Bulgaria and he was easily recognizable for his baldness.

The leading scorer at the 1974 World Cup, Grzegorz Lato remains the only Polish player ever to win the Golden Boot at a World Cup. He's a legend both in Poland and in the balding community.

The other candidate for Greatest Bald Player of All Time: Alfredo di Stefano (this photo doesn't do justice to his bald patch in the back).

Much like Vialli, Esteban Cambiasso went from partially haired to completely shorn in less than 4 months.

As demonstrated so clearly by this photo, Michael Bradley does not have time for jokes about baldness.

Freddy Ljungberg is one of the few players in the world that could have accurately impersonated the lead singer of Prodigy AND Bruce Willis in less than 10 years.

Pepe Reina arrived at Liverpool with a decent head of hair. He departed without one. Somewhere in there is a metaphor for the prolonged instability at Anfield.

Gervinho can't accurately be classified as bald, but the fact that he switched from shoe string to full headband demonstrates that there's something fishy going on under those braids.

Honorable Mention: Pierluigi Collina remains one of the greatest officials in soccer history AND the head you immediately think of when you hear the words "bald" and "soccer".

At some point in every man’s life, there will come a time when he will catch a glimpse of his reflection and suddenly realize, “Someone is stealing my hair.” At least, that’s one way to take it when the revelation that the balding has begun. But fear not! For out there in the soccer world are 20 heroes who stare hair loss in the face and think, “You will not beat me. I will grow stronger. I will score goals. Most importantly, I will not get a hair transplant.”

Speaking of, in compiling this assembly of heroes, there were some immediate criteria that needed to be put in place. Firstly, it wasn’t essential that these gentlemen be completely bald, only that there be obvious symptoms of hair loss taking place. Then came the disqualifications: first to be removed were those who fought hair loss using science (Wayne Rooney and Wesley Snjeider, for example). Next up were those individuals who rocked shaved heads despite being able to sport a full mane if desired (David Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Fabio Cannavaro). That said, individuals who identified the developing situation and eradicated it via trimmer still qualify (Esteban Cambiasso and Tim Howard). Lastly, no shapes of any kind will be found here; Ronaldo circa 2002 may have been balding, but the triangle on his forehead made it impossible to notice.

With those criteria in place, we scoured the Internet to find the 20 greatest examples of baldness in soccer. These are men who did not go gently into that no-haired night, but instead stayed the course, scored goals, and won silverware, even as their goal tallies went in the opposite direction to their follicle counts.